Isaac Hodgson

Isaac Hodgson (15 November, 1828 – 24 November 1867), commonly known as "Ikey" or "Ike", was a first class cricketer who played nine games for Yorkshire as a pre-county club between 1852 and 1862, and 21 for Yorkshire CCC in the County Championship between 1863 and 1866. He also appeared for the North of England (1861-1864), Yorkshire with Stockton-on-Tees (1861), United England Eleven (1863), the Players (1863) and England (1863-1865).

A slow left- and round-arm bowler, he took an impressive 174 first class wickets at 15.8 with a best of seven for 23 against an All England XI. He also took six for 44 against Surrey CCC, six for 63 against Cambridgeshire and five for 59 against the South of England. He took five wickets in an innings nine times and twice claimed ten wickets in match.

A right handed batsman, Hodgson scored 329 runs at 7.47 with a top score of 32 against the South of England. He is held in some circles to have been the worst wielder of the willow that first-class cricket has ever seen, and an even worse fielder. Hodgson was perhaps the first man to say of himself that he batted at number eleven only because there was no number twelve. He was rivalled in this respect only by his Yorkshire colleague and close friend Billy Slinn, with whom he would travel the country to play for rustic twenty-twos against William Clarke's All England XI. He was their most feared opponent, with Slinn a distant second.

"Yorkshire", said Richard Daft some years after Hodgson's death, "has always been rich in bowlers, and one of the best was Ike Hodgson. [Wilfred Rhodes| [Wilfred] Rhodes] somewhat reminds me of him. Hodgson was perhaps a trifle faster, but he also used to bowl good slows with a break. He had a very good-natured grin, and I remember once that when at Bradford (August, 1864) he got me stumped by Ned Stephenson when I had made 80, he consoled me with a smile which was broad enough to put any man in a good humour." [Quoted in Pullin, Alfred William: "Talks with Old English Cricketers" (W. Blackwood, 1900), p. 93.]

Hodgson was born in Bradford, where he died just past his 39th birthday. It is believed that there exists an epitaph on his Bradford gravestone:

:"Isaac Hodgson, rest his soul,":"Could never bat but always bowl.":"Through many years the tourists' skill":"Was subjugate to Ikey's will.":"They took their stance with vain defiance":"Against his subtle skill and science.":"Progenitor, great Almus Pater,":"Bowler divine, but batting hater."

References

* [http://content-www.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/14878.html Cricinfo Profile]
* [http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/30/30303/30303.html Cricket Archive Statistics]